Accor has collaborated with Microsoft to launch ALL CONNECT, a new hybrid meetings concept supported by Microsoft Teams.
Launching in April 2021, the new ALL CONNECT concept will focus primarily on small meetings (eight to 50 physical participants).
This new offering will enable corporate customers and meeting planners to combine physical in-hotel meetings with virtual interactions across multiple locations simultaneously. Meetings will take place on the Microsoft Teams platform, where attendees can connect and engage virtually.
In Accor’s meeting spaces, Microsoft Teams Rooms and Surface Hub 2S will connect people on-site to those joining remotely with audio and video device experiences.
Currently, 55 per cent of Accor hotels with meeting rooms are providing hybrid meetings solutions to their clients, and the company’s target is to achieve 100 per cent by 2022 across all of its brands.
Separately, research by Accor shows that 50 per cent of physical meetings planned by the company’s Meetings & Events customers in 2021 will switch to virtual formats, and that 70 per cent of respondents see hybrid meetings as an important service in the future. Sector analysis also revealed that the trend towards remote events and meetings is likely to endure beyond the pandemic even as corporate budgets return to pre-Covid levels.
